Marriage convenant responsibilities (4)

DEAR reader, welcome to the last segment on this column. This week, I will yet be looking at the responsibilities of the woman.

Home Maker

The woman in the home has the responsibility of making her home. God’s Word says: To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Titus 2:5; see also Proverbs 14:1). The home is what the woman makes it to be. An adage says, “As you lay your bed, so you lie on it.” Make your home conducive for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. There are some homes you enter, and you just sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. You can see joy and gladness on the faces of those who live there. There are some others that, as soon as you enter their homes, you feel tension in the atmosphere.

The woman has a great role to play in determining the spiritual atmosphere of the home. You can determine to make your home a conducive place for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. Keep your home for Jesus, and out of the reach of the devil.

Keeping the home involves doing it physically and spiritually. Spiritually, you keep your home by prayers, the Word of God, fasting and watching. Physically, you keep it clean and tidy. The cleanliness in some homes commands attention, while in others, you wonder whether cleanliness means anything to them. No matter how small or big the place you are living is, keep it clean, to the glory of God. Some women appear neat outside, but leave their homes in a mess with everything there “rioting!” This is hypocrisy. Cleanliness is part of spirituality; therefore, woman, be clean inside and outside.

The woman, as a home keeper, prepares food for her household. The book of Proverbs describe the virtuous woman as one who “Giveth meat to her household” (Proverbs 31:15). Members of her household are all adequately taken care of. How well people in the home are taken care of depends, therefore, on how efficient she is in performing this duty.

Keeping the home requires diligence, spiritually and physically. It is energy and time-consuming, but the result speaks for itself. A lazy woman cannot keep a home, but God will always supply the strength that is required.

Solution Provider

Mothers are solution providers. They are blessings and not burdens to their families. At the wedding of Cana, in John 2: 5, Mary the mother of Jesus directed the servants, who lacked enough wine for the wedding to the solution. She said: Whatsoever he (Christ) saith unto you, do it.

Someone said, “Men are what their mothers make them.” Another person said about Martin Luther (initiator of the reformation movement): “Behind the monk, who shook the world was the influence of a mother.” A child’s first TEACHER is his mother. There is a special link between a mother and the child she carried in her womb and breast-fed at birth.

This link gives the mother a unique position and tie with the child, which fathers don’t have and can be used as a point of contact to pray for the proper development of your child. Susannah Wesley, the mother of the well-known Methodist preacher John Wesley, spent one hour each day praying for her 17 children. She took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters.” No investment made over your child’s life is wasted. Your children of today are the leaders of tomorrow. Abraham Lincoln, a one-time President of the USA said, “All that I am, I owe to my angel mother.”

There is an adage that says, “Charity begins at home.” Yes, it is true and a real mother will do well to initiate it in her family, if it is lacking. Stretch out your heart spiritually and pray for others. Don’t let your prayers focus only on “me, myself and I. Stretch out your hand physically and give to others. Always look for an opportunity to be a blessing to others, because giving is living. Give to the needy and not just to your friends. Feed the hungry and your children will never be hungry. Whenever you give to the needy, you are doing it for God and He will surely repay you (Proverbs19:17).

To be a keeper and a solution provider requires the grace of God and to access that grace, you must be born again. This is by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Saviour and Lord. If you are ready to be a child of God, please say this prayer: “Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. Deliver me from sin and Satan to serve the living God. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.”

If you prayed this simple prayer, you are now a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

Congratulations! You are now born again! All-round rest and peace are guaranteed you, in Jesus’ Name. Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through [email protected]; OR 07026385437 and 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building A Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).